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| New Zealand expert stands by Gitmo criticism |
| 2006-02-20 |
| A New Zealand expert on physical and mental health has stood by findings that US detention camp Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba, should be shut down. Professor Paul Hunt, of both the University of Waikato and the University of Essex, was part of a five-member team appointed by the UN Human Rights Commission to investigate conditions at the "war on terror" detention camp. The group also included Leila Zerrougui, an expert on arbitrary detention; Leandro Despouy, expert on judicial independence; Manfred Nowak, an expert on torture; and Asma Jahangir, an expert on freedom of religion. The US is currently holding about 490 men at the camp who are accused of having links to Afghanistan's ousted Taleban regime or the al Qaeda terror group, though only a handful have been charged since January 2001. The team investigating the detention camp concluded that the United States should bring all prisoners to an independent trial or release them. The authors did not visit the camp because the US government refused them access to inmates, so their report was based on "credible" accounts of life at Guantanamo Bay. The Americans agreed that three of the authors could visit the camp but could not speak, either privately or publicly, to detainees. "That was unacceptable to us," Prof Hunt told National Radio today. The government did, however, reply to a detailed questionnaire supplied by the report team. The US government described the report as a "discredit" to the United Nations. If the camp was not closed, the authors believed that detainees should have the opportunity to test the lawfulness of their incarceration. Abusive treatment of prisoners should stop, and conditions generally should be improved and UN inspectors should be allowed in, Prof Hunt said. "It would been a dereliction of duty if we'd closed our eyes to Guantanamo Bay." The report will be presented to the United Nations in a few weeks' time where decisions will be made on what steps to take next. The team was appointed by the commission to the three-year project. They worked independently, with expenses covered but receiving no payment from the UN. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
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| Posted by: .com 2006-02-20 22:11 |
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| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-02-20 22:07 |
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| Posted by: .com 2006-02-20 21:55 |
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| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-02-20 21:53 |
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| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-02-20 18:28 |
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| Posted by: .com 2006-02-20 18:22 |
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| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-02-20 17:52 |
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| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2006-02-20 17:48 |
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| Posted by: Frank G 2006-02-20 17:05 |
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| Posted by: Angaith Grerens9024 2006-02-20 16:33 |
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| Posted by: lotp 2006-02-20 13:13 |
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| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2006-02-20 13:10 |